Entertainment
How Star Trek's Most Powerful Woman Turned A Beloved Character Kinky
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
“Sub Rosa” is one of the raunchiest episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, one that turned Dr. Beverly Crusher into a kinky crewman who liked to read her grandmother’s erotic journal entries and have passionate sex with a ghost. This was a wild recontextualization of Crusher’s character, and “Sub Rosa” subsequently became one of the lowest-rated episodes in the show’s long history. Fans have often wondered how this kinky sex romp made it to air, and there’s a simple answer: “Sub Rosa” only got the greenlight because forgotten producer Jeri Taylor convinced the other Star Trek bigwigs the episode would appeal to women.
These days, when fans look back on the so-called Golden Age of Star Trek, they usually credit the shows’ quality to a variety of men, including notorious executive producer Rick Berman, showrunner Michael Piller, and superstar writers Brannon Braga and future Battlestar Galactica reboot creator Ronald D. Moore. But Jeri Taylor was vitally important, serving as executive producer for the final two seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation before co-creating the fan-favorite spinoff, Voyager. Back when she was working on TNG, she went to bat for an episode that nobody else really believed in: “Sub Rosa.”
Dr. Crusher Redefines “Ghosting”
Back then, Trek producers accepted spec scripts from fans (this actually helped Ronald D. Moore land his job on TNG!), which is a large part of why the Golden Age of Trek has so much narrative diversity. “Sub Rosa” was originally pitched by freelancer Jeanna F. Gallo, and she wrote a story that featured both a scientific explanation for ghosts and a kind of Scottish origin story for Dr. Crusher. While Taylor liked the idea right away, the other Next Generation producers weren’t so sure about it.
In Captains’ Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, Taylor is quoted as saying that “Rick [Berman] and Michael [Piller] were very distrustful of this story” because “they considered it a romance novel in space and felt the possibility for embarrassment was monumental.” As for Taylor, she had faith in this unconventional story, claiming that “I just knew it would work.”
The Unhinged Star Trek Episode Written For Women
In case you’re wondering, there was a method to Taylor’s madness: while acknowledging that “Sub Rosa” was “a different kind of story for Star Trek to tell,” she also pointed out that “we do have women in our audience, and women do traditionally respond to romantic stories.” Therefore, it made sense to create an episode more uniquely tailored to one of the franchise’s lesser-served demographics. Eventually, she got the other producers on board, and they decided to lean into this romantic fantasy story despite (or perhaps because of) the fact it turned prim and proper Dr. Crusher into a kinkster who enjoys wild and uninhibited sex with a ghost.
Unfortunately, Rick Berman and Michael Piller’s premonition about “the possibility for embarrassment” in “Sub Rosa” proved to be true: on IMDB, “Sub Rosa” is rated 4.9 out of 10, one of the lowest-rated episodes of The Next Generation. When it was originally released, producers claimed reception was generally split by gender, with men really hating it and women really loving it. Meanwhile, as quoted in Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, episode writer Brannon Braga claims this story only upset the “hardcore fans” who “seem to short-circuit” anytime that “you infuse a show with sexual themes.”
Kinky Star Trek Was Just Ahead Of Its Time
While “Sub Rosa” is notorious for its naughty content (which features Dr. Crusher masturbating, banging a ghost, and living out scenes straight from a dirty fanfic), the episode may have simply been ahead of its time. These days, many fans (especially younger ones) have critically reevaluated the episode and really enjoy its campy nature and over-the-top sexual content. Speaking of which, Dr. Crusher’s transformation into a kink icon plays a lot better with modern audiences thanks to the sheer popularity of romantic fantasy, a literary genre in which paranormal paramours are all the rage.
“Sub Rosa” may not be a good episode, but it remains a fun episode, especially if you’re a fan of Gates McFadden. Instead of shrinking away from this delightfully unhinged script, she leaned in, giving the most enthusiastically erotic performance in Star Trek history. Forget Shakespeare, Picard; from now on, we’d rather read 50 Shades of Bev!